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'. l. Instructor Picks Up t4e,Pi~c~s
After Hurricane Katrirt~:~:Rage f
?e..<­Chantal
Mullins .. - .Al­e~.,.,.
FEATURE EDITOR 'O'"{O'S"'
' ~-·~:fi·t-~~- ~tft \ .. ··-· - ·l· •
questions such as what to bring with Cross asked her to be a co-director .. checks and hand them to evacuees.
them. They were told not to use the of a service center in McComb,'' \ ;'There were a lot of tears; hugs and
term "refugee" for those leaving Miss. The town hadn't set up a serv-;~ pope," she said. :·: , .: _,. ·~; , .
Hurricane Katrina ripped their hometowns. "We called them ice center yet and needed her help in :_ · While " in - .. · Mississippj,
through the gulf, leaving pain and clients in Mississippi," Friendenthal doing so. ;·~~fZ'~,;;llFriendenthal became r~onsible for
destruction in its wake. Americans
sat and watched, horrified at the
images that flashed before them on
their television screens. They tried
to imagine the loss experienced by
those most devastated by the storm.
Kelli Friendenthal, PCC child devel-opment
instructor, didn't have to
imagine; she went to Mississippi to
help with the hurricane relief.
"I didn't know I'd end up in
Mississippi," she said. "Something
came over me that said you have to
go. That could have been my family
- I wanted to help. I had never
done anything like this before. I
decided I needed to go when I saw
the news reports of all the children
who were lost and couldn't find
their families."
Friendenthal went to the San
Gabriel Valley chapter of the
American Red Cross for five hours
of crash-course training on Sept. 6.
While there, she and other volun-teers
watched videos on disaster
relief and learned how to deal with
evacuees and their emotions. "We
had to learn how to keep our emo-tions
in check as well," she said.
The volunteers also had a lot of
said. Evacuees came to service centers -._ipublic relations for _the American
While in training, volunteers
were asked if they would be able to
leave the following day. "The whole
room raised their hand,"
Friendenthal said. "It was an amaz-ing
sight."
Friendenthal didn't end up leav­ing
until Sept. 10. She fleW' into
Montgomery, Ala., where the
American Red Cross headquarters
was located in an abandoned K-to
receive checks from the Red ''i"Red Cross. She was on radio broad-
. -- - .G ' '
Cross. The size of the check varied ,;fasts and quoted in newspapers
depending on the number of peOple -~"because there was information that
living under a single roof. The more';'t.6o'really needed to get out ' there:
people, the more ~oney ·a f~y_ . ~There was a lot of miscommunica­could
receive. . ~- , •. ::.J~'S;:f't().~;~tion," she said. "I got the correct
"When I first got to Columbus I' ~ information for evacuees to under-
.~-~~·,.- .
saw a large number of people who ·stand what was really going on." ·
had lost and suffered a great ~." . :,sh~ returned home on Sept. 24,
Friendenthal said. "I saw 'hop/ -~~era 14-day stay in Mississippi. : '
when they received financial ~d ff':>,;friendenthal is most proud of
Mart. Volunteers were held there because it was a start toward a road,~ ;.the f.act that she went there and did
until service centers called and to recovery [for them]." ,_,;;;\tkii:i·-i£%.iJ-5oinething she's never done before.
·asked for a certain number of peo­While
. in . • Mi5si-;~lwC:r .. I would go back in .a heartbeat
ple. Friendenthal was there for only
four hours, which was surprising
because most volunteers stayed
there for two or three days. "The
Red Cross has never had a disaster
this big," she said. "Trying to coor­dinate
things took time."
When she arrived in Alabama,
Friendenthal's first thought was "I
want to go home." That urge quick­ly
faded as she got excited about the
possibility of helping others. "I was
hoping I could fill the need of what-ever
I was asked to do," she said.
She was deployed to Columbus,
Miss., for five days before the Red
Friendenthallived with 34 other vol: without thinking twice . if they
unteers in a church that had been .; caned," she said. .:··,;. ·! _. · -~
converted into a staff shelter. · "':'· ·>;,~· '' ~:;_ :.: · "This experience ~hanged my y; ~ .
A typical day for Friendenthal . life for the better," F.riendenthal
began at 5:30 a.m. She wo~d go to · ·said. "It took me out of my comfort
the service center to make sure .. '·.zone. It wasn't about me; it was .
everything was . in place, ' such as · · about the people I was helping., .
check machines and air condition- .. , ·· .' Friendenthal felt very fortunate
ing units. The day had to be pre- . to work with the evacuees. She was
pared in advance. · ., ·,··'. ···:~ happy to see hope in all the destruc­From
8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. she tion. When people would say
would process applications for -~thank you for helping us," .
financial aid and make sure there ' Friendenthal would respond with
were enough checks and cowiselors · "No. Thank you for giVing me the
on the floor. The best part of her day ·• apportwiity to meet and work ~th
was when she would write out you.': · ·~· ·: -.::.
~ ... , .. ) .. ,"·,

Images are for personal research, scholarly and educational purposes. Contact Shatford Library at archives@pasadena.edu for information about the reproduction of images. The Library assumes no responsibility for the improper use of any image from the Archives.

'. l. Instructor Picks Up t4e,Pi~c~s
After Hurricane Katrirt~:~:Rage f
?e..,;friendenthal is most proud of
Mart. Volunteers were held there because it was a start toward a road,~ ;.the f.act that she went there and did
until service centers called and to recovery [for them]." ,_,;;;\tkii:i·-i£%.iJ-5oinething she's never done before.
·asked for a certain number of peo­While
. in . • Mi5si-;~lwC:r .. I would go back in .a heartbeat
ple. Friendenthal was there for only
four hours, which was surprising
because most volunteers stayed
there for two or three days. "The
Red Cross has never had a disaster
this big," she said. "Trying to coor­dinate
things took time."
When she arrived in Alabama,
Friendenthal's first thought was "I
want to go home." That urge quick­ly
faded as she got excited about the
possibility of helping others. "I was
hoping I could fill the need of what-ever
I was asked to do," she said.
She was deployed to Columbus,
Miss., for five days before the Red
Friendenthallived with 34 other vol: without thinking twice . if they
unteers in a church that had been .; caned," she said. .:··,;. ·! _. · -~
converted into a staff shelter. · "':'· ·>;,~· '' ~:;_ :.: · "This experience ~hanged my y; ~ .
A typical day for Friendenthal . life for the better," F.riendenthal
began at 5:30 a.m. She wo~d go to · ·said. "It took me out of my comfort
the service center to make sure .. '·.zone. It wasn't about me; it was .
everything was . in place, ' such as · · about the people I was helping., .
check machines and air condition- .. , ·· .' Friendenthal felt very fortunate
ing units. The day had to be pre- . to work with the evacuees. She was
pared in advance. · ., ·,··'. ···:~ happy to see hope in all the destruc­From
8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. she tion. When people would say
would process applications for -~thank you for helping us," .
financial aid and make sure there ' Friendenthal would respond with
were enough checks and cowiselors · "No. Thank you for giVing me the
on the floor. The best part of her day ·• apportwiity to meet and work ~th
was when she would write out you.': · ·~· ·: -.::.
~ ... , .. ) .. ,"·,

Rights Statement

Images are for personal research, scholarly and educational purposes. Contact Shatford Library at archives@pasadena.edu for information about the reproduction of images. The Library assumes no responsibility for the improper use of any image from the Archives.